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Earthquake Photos

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Asphalt Road Fractured

Photograph from AccuSoft Inc.

Earthquakes are common in Japan but this 1995 Kobe quake was a standout that spelled the end of the road for a section of asphalt highway, a fleet of trucks, and even a huge crane which collapsed under the force of the temblor. The magnitude 7.2 quake was one of the worst in Japan’s long history; 6,433 people were killed and damages topped $100 billion (U.S.)

About 80 percent of all earthquakes occur where the Pacific Ocean tectonic plates abut those of the surrounding continents along the west coast of the Americas, and through a string of Asian nations including Japan, China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Another belt of high quake activity stretches through the Mediterranean Sea region eastward into Asia.

Haitians Pick up the Pieces

Photograph by Chris Hondros, Getty Images

Haitian girls pick up the pieces by retrieving household goods from a Port-au-Prince neighborhood reduced to rubble by the magnitude 7.0 earthquake which struck on January 12, 2010. Nearly a year later as many as one million Haitians still live in refugee camps.

Big quakes can be devastating and deadly but thousands of earthquakes take place around the world every single day. The vast majority of all earthquakes are so weak that no one notices them-except for scientists who monitor sensitive seismic equipment at more than 4,000 scattered stations.

Shelters in Bam

Photograph by John Stanmeyer, National Geographic

Iranians stand near the steel shelters in which they were still living two years after a deadly 2003 quake killed some 30,000 people and destroyed much of the historic city of Bam.

Earthquakes originate underground in the crust and upper mantle at depths of up to 500 miles (800 kilometers). Most big quakes happen at the faults where large tectonic plates of rock meet and move past one another in a slow, gradual process. When stresses cause sudden shifts of these plates they move violently from side to side or up and down, sending shock waves through the crust which we experience as earthquakes.

Haitian Neighborhod

Photograph by Joe Raedle, Getty Images

A Port-au-Prince neighborhood lies ruined and reeling on January 16, 2010, just four days after one of the more devastating quakes in recent memory rocked the island nation of Haiti.

Scientists with seismic equipment monitor about half a million earthquakes a year and very few of them are even strong enough to be noticed by people on the surface. But larger earthquakes take a heavy toll. About 10,000 people lose their lives to earthquakes each year, an average weighted by catastrophic events like the Haitian quake.

Walking in Port-au-Prince

Photograph by Jean-Philippe Ksiazek, AFP/Getty Images

The human toll is high in Port-au-Prince Haiti, where the after effects of a massive earthquake will be felt for years to come. Human health is a major concern among quake survivors who endure everything from burning rubbish to disease-ridden refugee camps.

In terms of size the biggest earthquake of the modern era was a magnitude 9.5 temblor which rocked Chile on May 22, 1960. That quake killed some 1,655 people and left two million homeless. It also sparked tsunamis which brought subsequent death and destruction to the shores of Hawaii, Japan, and the Philippines.

Tent City

Photograph by United Nations

A bird’s-eye view reveals a colorful tent city sprouting among the ruins of Port-au-Prince as Haitians sought shelter in the wake of a deadly January 2010 earthquake.

Truly epic disasters, the so-called “great quakes” which level cities or spawn giant tsunamis, happen about once every five years on average.

Fighting for Relief

Photograph by Jeremy Lock, My Shot

With their homes in ruins and their nation’s infrastructure shattered, Haitians thronged their capital’s soccer stadium in hopes of getting relief supplies handed out by the U.S. Army.

The January 2010 Haitian quake occurred at the boundary of the Caribbean and North American plates. It left more than 220,000 people dead and 1.3 million displaced. Official estimates listed nearly 300,000 homes as destroyed or damaged.

Toppled Row Houses

Photograph by Michael Nichols, National Geographic

Residents of San Francisco’s Marina District were rocked by a 1989 quake which left this row of houses precariously tilted and propped up by temporary support beams.

Scientists cannot predict where and when earthquakes will occur, but they can use seismic data to estimate the likelihood of future events. The San Francisco Bay area has a 67 percent chance of experiencing a major earthquake sometime in the next 30 years. California is crossed by the San Andreas Fault system, where the Pacific and North American plates are slowly moving past one another horizontally. California is in no danger of dropping into the Pacific, but Los Angeles and San Francisco will one day sit next to one another.

Mourning Earthquake Victims

Photograph by TEH Eng Koon, AFP/Getty Images

Chinese women weep near one of many buildings leveled in Dujiangyan by a May, 2008 earthquake. The temblor rocked Sichuan province, demolishing a staggering five million buildings and killing more than 70,000 people.

The deadliest quake on record also struck in China. The epicenter of the 1556 event was about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Xi’an. Contemporary accounts tell of widespread destruction, city walls and homes in collapse, and fissures gushing canals of groundwater. Loss of life was appalling and is estimated to have been at least 830,000 people.

Saying Goodbye

Photograph by Zhou Qingxian, ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images

The terrible toll of the earthquake which struck Sichuan province on May 12, 2008, is evident as parents perform funeral rites for children killed when their school collapsed. The quake killed some 70,000 people and left more than five million homeless.

Earthquake frequency appears to be relatively consistent through the years. Yet earthquake danger to human is increasing because populations in earthquake-prone areas, like urban California and Japan, continues to rise and put more people at risk.